I'm going to be out in Vegas next week and am planning on sneaking up to southern UT for a couple of days of fishing. I've never fished the area before but from looking online, there are a few choices. Any recommendations?

So far I've looked at these:
Virgin River
Parowan Creek
Santa Clara River

Anything else I've found like the Sevier River is too far for me to drive for a day trip.

Quentin

05-10-2007, 07:12 PM

My brother lives near Las Vegas and I know he's been doing some trout fishing lately. I'll ask him where he goes. It might be the Colorado River below Lake Mead (pic attached), which may not be of interest to you if you're looking for smaller waters.

There's also some great carp fishing in Lake Mead if you just have a few hours to kill. When I went to visit my brother I went to the Hoover Dam and saw some big carp there, so on the way back I stopped at one of the boat ramps to take a look around and immediately saw several more. Looked like easy pickin's :hihi: . I was kicking myself for not bringing my fly rod :roll: .

Q

teflon_jones

05-10-2007, 10:50 PM

Thanks Quentin, any advice you and your brother can provide would be much appreciated!

And you're right, I'm really looking for something a bit smaller than the Colorado near Mead. I'm actually looking forward to the long drive to get to my destination since I haven't done much driving out west.

fishnut

05-11-2007, 03:14 PM

I am from Utah and lived in St George for years. My reason for moving from there was the lack of good fly water. There is not much there in the way of moving water, your best bet is some still water in the area. If it must be trout you go for, than look at Kolob Res. It has good regulations and a slot limit to allow the fish to get some size to them. There are a lot of 20" fish there (rainbows) and some a bit bigger. Fish near the boat ramp. If Warm water fish ar OK with you look at Sand Hollow res near Hericane. It is fairly new and is producing great numbers of Largemouths and the size of the fish is getting good also. Alot of 2 lbers but fish to 6 lbs are there and cought every day in the spring. Near there is Quail Creek Res and it has big bass and blue gill but smaller #s of fish. The rivers you mentioned are all shallow, warm and muddy. Keep in mind that this area of Utah is almost as hot as Vegas. I'm heading to Vegas this weekend for a wedding and will be fishing Lake mead if time permits. Good luck!

teflon_jones

05-12-2007, 08:05 AM

Thanks fishnut. I've read that some sections of the rivers I mentioned are shallow and muddy, but that some sections of them are good trout water. I'm not looking to fish the reservoirs since I won't have a boat. Is it worth traveling the extra hour or so to the Sevier River?

fishnut

05-13-2007, 10:35 PM

The Sevier is one of my favorites so, yes in my opinion, it is worth the drive. There are some very good fish in there and some great water. Parts of it are private but you can find good public water. I fished it twice this spring and did very well. Fish are fat and healthy, and they are not overly tough to figure out. It isn't one of those streams that you need to fish size 24s or anything. There aren't any big surprises, just match the hatch or standard nymphs if nothing is on top. I fish alot of bead heads out here. Dry and a dropper is killer. You will enjoy the drive, the canyon coming up from Nevada into Utah is a great drive considering it is an interstate and you will love the red rocks of southern Utah. Enjoy

teflon_jones

05-14-2007, 09:38 AM

Thanks again fishnut. Any advice on good places to park my car and enter the river? I'm not sure how easy it is to access the river from the road.

jsteelhead

05-14-2007, 12:10 PM

Fishnut is right, those waters aren't really worth much. The Sevier can be good, but this time of year is really iffy, last I heard southern Utah waters were all running with what little spring runoff they are going to have this year. Typically Mid May through late June is runoff time. Plus, with southern Utah having a lot of red dirt it doesn't take much for water to get muddy. I would try and check to see if flows are even worth the drive. I have fished a lot in southern Utah and a couple of times I have gone this time of year and spent whole days driving from one piece of water to the next just trying to find water that wasn't muddy.

fishnut

05-15-2007, 10:47 AM

Ther isn't much runoff this year down there. I just drove up the canyon (Monday) from Nevada into Utah and the Virgin river had very little water in it for May. I'm not sure what they are going to water all the golf courses with this year.